Cute Name
by Cherished Tenshi
Summary: A collection of Riku/Shiki one-shots, some platonic, some romantic, all AU. Current chapter: Hot Stuff. To Shiki and Riku, it's just another day of fixing fashion sense and grabbing a meal after school. But, of course, it's Valentine's Day. Cue the questioningly-named drinks, Shining Knights, staplers, and hot stuff. Platonic Riku/Shiki, AU.
1. Cute Name

**Disclaimer: **_Kingdom Hearts _belongs to Square Enix. _The World Ends With You _belongs to Square Enix and Jupiter. _Disney _belongs to Walt Disney; or, at least, not me. I do, however, own this universe and story idea, so no stealing anything without asking, 'kay?

**A/N: **Soo... this is the first story in my _Hybrid _universe, which is a story I have been planning for a while now; about two to three months. This was _definitely _not how I had planned to start it... XD It's not the main series at all.

It may turn into a series of drabbles, but it depends on how popular it is and if I get any ideas. So, for now, it's marked as 'Complete'. That may change. ;)

Hope you all enjoy! :)

**Summary: **Shiki only wanted someone to copy homework off. She wasn't expecting to make a new friend. Besides, that quiet grey-haired boy in the corner looked so lonely... and grumpy, but that was beside the point. AU, slight Riku/Shiki.

**oOoOoOoOoOo**

When I enter the classroom with Mr. Mew tucked underneath one arm (he comes _everywhere _with me, stupid. One of the first things you learn about me; if Mr. Mew doesn't come, _I _don't come), and last night's homework under the other, I immediately set about to find someone to copy off. Neku wouldn't have done his homework either; I phoned him this morning, and I swear, I could _hear _him have a heart attack over the phone ("WHAT HOMEWORK."), and if Joshua wasn't the first person in the classroom (which he wasn't), then he wasn't coming to school full stop. It was kind of weird; he'd been off for, what, the past week now? Joshua _never _takes time off school, even if he's a sniffling wreck in the corner who has to run off to the toilet every five minutes (hey, it's happened); he's still in the _school _corner.

I'm a bit concerned, but first thing's first; find someone to copy last night's homework off. I'd left my school books in the locker yesterday accidentally while gathering my sewing stuff (Rhyme had asked me to sew her favourite orange jumper back together, since it had ripped on a railing the other week); I had only realised when I was on the bus, in the middle of listening to the new song that Mr. Twister had released. And it wasn't like I could wrestle the bus driver, one certain Pete Cat, off the bus and drive back to school. Pete's too fat to fight; he'd squash me as soon as I was in ten feet of him.

Besides, he has _Julius _as a cousin. I'm sorry, but I value my life. I really do.

ANYWAY. Stop rambling, Shiki, and find someone to copy!

A few people snigger at me whenever they see Mr. Mew underneath my arm, his adorable beady little eyes staring out at the world. I ignore them. They really should get used to him by now. It's _not _childish! I look over the room, trying to find someone that looks like they're either working on the maths assignment, or finished it. Almost all of them are messing around; all of the girls are giggling in the corner over a magazine, while the boys are telling some 'jokes' that I really would not want to repeat here. Subconsciously, I pull down my short skirt as they look at me hungrily.

Perfect! There's a grey-haired (?) boy in the corner, hunched over his desk with a book in his hands. The person beside him, a boy with spiky black hair who I recognize immediately as Vanitas, is sleeping. Good. On his good days, he's a whining brat who makes my life miserable.

"Hi there!" I set down my books beside him and offer my most charming smile at him. Let him fall in love with, let him fall in love with me...

Which, you know, would really help if he was _paying any attention to me whatsoever_. Oh nooooo. He's still in his book, short fringe falling over and covering his eyes. That's when my eyes fall on his collar. Which is up. _Really _high up. As in, it's covering all of his neck and some of his hair. It's up to his _ears!_

And it does _not _look good.

I bend over to try and fix it, because high collars are _not _in fashion; collars full-stop aren't, but it's part of the school uniform, so it's not my fault that the school refuses to move with the fashion and the trends. He _still _doesn't notice, maybe grunting, but I notice him stiffening slightly, when my fingers accidentally slip against his bare neck.

May I add that this guy, whoever he is, has baby soft skin?

Either this guy is deaf, blind, or a mixture. I think he's just stupid.

Finally, I yank down the collar. He yelps in surprise, dropping the book on the table and flipping around to glare at me. That's when I notice his icy eyes; it's not the _colour _of them, it's the _way _he's glaring at me. Slightly narrowed so that they look like a snake's, long black eyelashes covering up most of it...

Holy crap it's like _Joshua's _glare!

"Who-" He stops to pull out something from his ear, which is a small white earphone that drops to the table gently. So _that's _why he couldn't hear me! Dork... wait. I can't actually hear anything from it. Was he _seriously _that desperate to ignore people; the earphone isn't even attached to anything! Eh? He yanks out the other one angrily and continues, "-The _hell _are you, and why are you touching my collar?"

"Your collar was sticking up," I explained, putting on my best dazing smile. He doesn't fall for it, only narrowing his eyes some more. Poop. "That was the fashion of _last _session. Right now, people _hate _collars. It's about the sleeveless tops, you know? And long, slightly baggy trousers that tuck into your shoes. Especially flat shoes. High heels are a no no."

"...I see..."

He quirks an eyebrow, and I'm furious to see that he looks _amused_. I'm being deadly serious here! "Hey! I'm being serious!"

"I know. That's why it's so amusing." A tiny smile tugs on his lips. Whoa, talk about a mood swing and a half. This guy did a 180 on Beat's skateboard and then landed in a tree. "Did you need me for anything?"

"Do you have this seat saved for anyone?" Even if he did, I'm so sitting here. He sounds; and looks, amusing. Like fun. People with strange hair tend to be fun. Like Neku. I mean, _how _does it spike up at the back like that? _How?_ And he claims to not use any hair gel... blatant lies.

He looks up at me from his book, surprised. He then looks down at the seat for a few seconds before shaking his head. "No..."

"Great!" I sit down on the seat beside him and offer him my hand. "I'm Shiki Vance. Nice to meet you!"

"Uh..."

"We're maths buddies now, and you're going to help me out whenever I get stuck, 'kay?" I wink at him and then giggle at his expression; he looks like a goldfish with his eyes budging out of his head. Does he get out much? "I have to warn you; I'm not good at maths. At all."

He sighs, and looks ready to smack me, but instead, he shakes my hand. His hand is _huge _compared to mine! I feel tiny as he lets go. "...I'm Riku."

"Riku, huh?" The name rolls off my tongue in a nice way. It sounds nice. Definitely unusual. "Cute name."

Riku looks up to me and shakes his head, blushing slightly. How _adorable!_ I nearly squeal, but then I might get some weird looks, so I settle for a giggle after his: "N-no it isn't!"

"Cuter than Neku, at any rate. Neku sounds evil. Rawr. I'm going to eat you." I playfully pull at his short hair, which is far softer than what any boy's hair should be. It's all... fluffy. No, not fluffy; like a cloud. Not that I know what a cloud feels like. Shouldn't they be really heavy, given that they're full of rain and all?

SHUT UP BRAIN.

He slumps further back in his seat and pulls his huge book over his head, groaning. "I _knew _that I should have saved this seat for someone else..."

"That's not very nice!" I tease, elbowing him in the side and holy he has skinny ribs. Well, it's not like I'm one to be talking. "Oh!" I hold out Mr. Mew from my arm and wave his paw. "This is Mr. Mew! He's my friend."

Blink. Blink. Blink. I wave my hand in front of his silent face. "Are you alright..?"

He nods slowly, still staring at Mr. Mew as if he's a monster of some kind. Or Quasimodo. I hug him defensively to my chest, glaring at Riku. "_Fine _then!" If he doesn't approve of Mr. Mew, then I'm not sitting anyway near him! Even if he _does _have his maths homework finished, I'm moving! "I see how it is. No one likes Mr. Mew anyway. Man, where are Neku and Josh when you need them..?" And why do Beat and Rhyme have to be in a different class?

Something gently wraps around my wrist. I gasp, ready to elbow the person behind me until I see that it's only Riku. He's looking at me in a weird mixture of... surprise and... what..? I can't make it out...

"I'm sorry," he says quietly. "It's just not every day that someone 'fixes'-" I glare at him for the last word. "-my collar and then sits beside me and becomes my new maths partner. Not to mention-" He gestures to Mr. Mew on the table, who's perched up against my maths' books, his head drooping down. "-That cat you have. It's amazing. Where did you buy it?"

"I made him myself!" I announce with pride as I sit back down again. I miss out the part that I was five, and my dad helped out with most of it. "Isn't he adorable?"

His lips twitch again. "Yeah. Cute name."

Oh, that cheeky- "Hey! Come up with your own opinions, please and thank you!" I elbow him in the side again, smiling.

He _finally _smiles! Let the angels sing their songs of praise! "Not my fault if his name's cute!"

"Okay, then, Mr. _Knight!_ Do you have the maths homework done? Apparently, we've got a sub teacher, and he's meant to be a maths freak."

"..._What _maths homework?" Beat. "And _Mr. Knight!_"

Oh boy, we're going to have so much fun.

**oOoOoOoOoOo**

**Notes:**

**Yes, Pete and Julius are who you think they are. ;P The Disney characters, I feel, need _far_ more love; I was on DeviantArt yesterday looking for a Donald/Goofy/Mickey friendship stamp, and I found _one_. Ridiculous, honestly! They will feature a lot in this universe, especially the three above and a few others. THERE NEEDS TO BE A CHARACTER SELECTION OPTION FOR THE WEWY AND NEW DISNEY DUDES, I SWEAR. I've requested it _three _times, but FFN still won't add them in... D:**

**Riku is sixteen in this, while Shiki is fifteen. I don't know how American schools work, so I'm going by how British schools work; first year is for 11/12, second is 12/13, third is 13/14, fourth is 14/15, fifth is 15/16 and so forth. They're both in fifth year.**

**All TWEWY players should recognise Shiki's comment on Riku's name. ;)**

**The 'Mr. Knight' part comes from a scene in _Dream Drop Distance_, which is one of my favourite scenes in the whole game (I have a fair few), and made me ship this pairing. The exchange is on my profile at the top. XD**

**Finally; Shiki, Neku and Joshua are best friends in this universe. Riku has Sora and Kairi, as usual. :)**

**Thanks for reading! If I had any errors or mistakes, little things like that, please do let me know! :)**

**~Cherished Tenshi (Bondy)**


	2. Hot Stuff

**Disclaimer: **How about no.

**Title: **Hot Stuff

**Summary: **To Shiki and Riku, it's just another day of fixing fashion sense and grabbing a meal after school. But, of course, it's Valentine's Day. Cue the questioningly-named drinks, Shining Knights, staplers, and hot stuff. Platonic Riku/Shiki, AU.

**Characters: **Shiki, Riku, mentions of others, such as Neku, Joshua, Kairi, and Sora.

**Rating: **K+? I greatly await the day that I can write a K fic.

**Author's Notes at the end of the story.**

**Thank you to **_g-peachy-chan, Infamousplot, Raberba girl, Inita, Kairiangel035, NinjaxSketcheartx, xBeautifulColors, _and _Animesrock145 _for reviewing! :)

* * *

It's been a couple of months now, since I first met Riku. _Somehow –_ but then again, with Neku and Joshua, I am very experienced in befriending anti-social balls of angst – we'd managed to hit it off, exchange phone numbers, all of the stuff that awkward high-collar guys did with awkward cat-hugging girls, which mainly involves chasing him down after school to correct his clothes (I swear, he wouldn't know good fashion if it swaggered up to him and smacked him with a Pegaso handbag), and him copying off most of my maths work, since it'd turned out that he was actually pretty bad at it? I mean, _wow_, he _looked_ like a genius, but apparently it didn't really run in the family. According to what little he'd told me, both his younger brothers were natural clever clogs, but neither of them actually liked using their brains. Riku, on the other hand, _did _like using his brain, but unfortunately, he didn't really have that much of one to begin with.

Still, I'm rambling. _Again. _Shiki, you've really got to stop doing that!

Also, is talking to oneself a sign of madness?

_Crap._

At the _moment_ (dum dum dummm!), I'm waiting outside the school gates for Riku, so that I can see his lack of fashion sense and try to smash it into what brain he does have that _flat shoes and baggy trousers do not go together_. It never works, but a girl can dream, can't she?

I decide to sit down on the ledge beside the gate, watching as the posh snobs from St. Michael's and St. Ursula's stride past our own school, sending those little condescending looks at us all as they snigger past. I may or may not have hit several of them on the head as they walked past.

Okay, okay, I _did!_

Don't sue me. I've got a lot of money, but seriously.

Don't.

After a few minutes of sitting down, and okay, Riku _never _takes this long to leave school, I finger the earphones in my blazer pocket. They're a CAT edition, extremely rare, and therefore extremely expensive, and Neku had brought me them for my birthday just a few weeks ago.

Hmm... to put in, or not to put in? If I put them in, then I can ignore the people staring at Mr. Mew (who's peeking out of my bag), but _then _I might not hear Riku come, and if I don't hear him, _then_ I can't have my daily fix of pretending to be the fashion police! Conflicting feelings!

Thankfully, my question is answered by some divine force from beside me. Someone taps my shoulder. I whirl around, grinning upon seeing Riku leap back several feet, looking surprised. He always was quite... ah, _reactive_. But hey, _he _was the one to tap me! As for how he could leap that far... according to Sora (who was Neku's brother, so I chatted to him sometimes), he was a record-holder at the long jump? That would explain a lot of things.

"_Shiki!"_ He walks up to me, rubbing the back of his neck, staring at the ground. "Don't do that to me."

I pout. "Heeeyyyy, _you _were the one who attacked _me_. If anything, I should be the one scared!" I grin. "Reversal of roles much?"

He looks ready to tell me to shut up, but one thing that Riku _does _have a lot of (along with awkwardness) is manners, so he just sighs and stands beside me. I stand up also, heaving my school bag over my shoulder. "Um..."

"Yeah?"

He still doesn't look at me, stuffing his hands into his _baggy pockets_. "...Are you busy?"

I cross my arms. "If by busy, you mean doing absolutely nothing, then yes, yes I am. Terribly busy." Ugh his collar _is sticking up again! _I yank it down before he can protest. "I'm gonna have to stick with you, anyways. _Someone _needs to stop you from committing crimes against mankind."

"I wear what's _comfortable_," Riku grumbles as we begin our daily descend down Sunset Hill. At the bottom, there's a small café that we tend to stop in before we walk home together. I'd learnt that me and Riku actually lived at the same avenue, so we'd kind of agreed to walk home together. By that, I mean that I drag him around, but details. "Shiki, there are some things that I just couldn't care about, and one of those things is fashion."

"Yet you still keep all of your buttons in one place." He's gonna get panicky. Yep, he does; his head swerves up to me from the ground. I grin.

"That was _one time! _And it was _you _that made me take off my pants!"

"There was a _loose button! _Did you honestly expect me to leave that... that _monstrosity _clear for the whole world to see?"

"The whole world saw me _naked!_"

"Just your lower half. It was quite a lovely lower half, too."

"_Shiki!_" His cheeks are burning, I can tell from. Clearly isn't used to girls. Pity. I do this to _all _the boys I know. "D-don't say things like that!"

He brings his collar up, snuggling into it against the freezing air.

His collar.

Is.

High.

RAGE MODE ACTIVATE.

I fold it down forcefully, shifting in my bag for a stapler. "Stay _still!_" After the day that Beat _would not leave his coat collar alone_, I'd learnt to bring a stapler around just for this kind of occasion. And a needle. With thread. You could never be too careful with boys.

Riku fidgets under my firm grip. We've stopped underneath a tree, thankfully, which offers plenty of shade, but it doesn't stop people from sniggering at us. I silently swear to staple any of _them_... if I ever seen them again.

"_Shiki,_" Riku near wails, but Riku is a Man, and therefore, grumbles. "People can _see _us."

"I've seen you naked," I say.

"That was _one time_."

"You've seen _me _naked," I continue.

"_One_ _time_." Those two words seem to be the entirety of Riku's excellent vocabulary.

"There's been a lot of one times. So, therefore, it's been more than one time." I grin upon wrapping my fingers around the stapler in the deep abyss of my bag. "Aha!"

"Should I be scared?" Riku whispers, actually sounding frightened for his existence.

"_Nonsense!_" I laugh, maybe a little bit evilly, which is probably doing nothing for Riku's amazing confidence in me. "You can trust me _completely_!"

"Really," he says dryly. "Somehow, I doubt that."

"_Really_," I say, taking a gentler approach, calming down a little. I just... I just get _intense _whenever fashion is involved, okay? Okay. I _like _fashion. "Look... I'll put the stapler away, as long as you promise to _keep the collar down._"

"It's comfortable," Riku Man wails, but he's tugging it down, _yeesss! _Another victory for Shiki, mwahaha! "And I don't even _want _to know why you carry a stapler around."

"It's always wise to be prepared," I say, putting the stapler back into my school bag. Hopefully, Mr. Mew won't accidentally be stapled on its way down. "Besides, Beat and Neku have some kind of fetish for collars." Beat sticks to jacket collars, but _my word, _Neku's usual collar... doesn't even _deserve _to be called a collar, it's just that stupid. It's like a turtle-neck, only they stretched it out to, like, ten times its normal size and left it sagging around the poor person's neck. It doesn't even deserve to be called clothing! Joshua also has a collar, but he has the decency to keep it down around me. Sometimes.

Riku chuckles. I grin. "True."

Wait wait _wait. _"Huh? You've seen them?"

"Once or twice. Beat's the one that keeps crashing into the bin with his skateboard, right?"

The way he says it – like the fact that Beat and rubbish bins crash together like it's no big deal – makes me burst out laughing. "Riku, Beat has broken his leg aboutthree times in the past year."

He stares. "No way."

"Yes way. Now; how do you know Neku?"

"I share physical class with him."

"You poor, _poor _thing." Neku and exercise always ends with his collar getting caught on something. And then he hurts his wrist. _Every time._

Riku looks thoughtful, rubbing his neck. "Actually, he's pretty good. He can run for miles on end."

I leer closer. "But on the ropes..?"

He laughs again, throwing his head back while beaming. "Heh, he _could _be better. Sora's just amazing on _everything._"

I tug on his wrist lightly, grinning. "Well, aren't you lucky? But _c'mon_! By the time we get there, it's gonna be closed!"

"W-whoa! Wait a second!"

"I'll get the stapler out."

Riku rolls his eyes, but allows me to drag him down the rest of the hill.

* * *

When we arrive at the café, there's a whole load of fancy hearts and pink ribbons and elaborative red roses floating around the giant windows, covering up the sign completely. I don't miss the flashing red image of two people snogging underneath fireworks in the corner. I think Riku notices it too, since he coughs quietly and pushes open the door.

That's when I remember that today is Valentine's Day. Or, as my younger sister stresses to me frequently, _Single__s__ Awareness Day._

Which can be shortened to SAD.

For some reason, this amuses me every time I hear it.

But _anyway_, it is Valentine's Day, and so, everyone and the kitchen sink is going to believe that me and Riku are an item.

Like, _hello? _We've only known each other for a couple of months! You can_not _go out with someone until you've known them for over a year, in my book. Otherwise... what's the point? You've gotta know if the person you're dating is someone that you like or not, don't you? Just trying to look 'cool' by hogging the first boy that looks in your direction... that's wrong. You don't look cool. You just look stupid and desperate, as if you couldn't live without constant attention. And maybe the fact that the majority of my friends are male, or male-phobic Kairi, has put me off dating and romance somewhat, but really, it's _annoying._

Ugh, I'm totally over thinking this. Food. I need food.

"Are you _sure _that we should be here?" I whisper to Riku as we walk up to the counter. The café's pretty busy, mostly with a bunch of university people, and I unconsciously strain my neck to look for Aqua. She's away at university at the moment, so we don't really get to see her, but I _swear_, if she's gone and hogged a boy...

Nope, she isn't here, so hopefully she hasn't; if she has, then she'll be getting a good slap from both Kairi _and _me. "I mean, the owner probably ships us together."

Riku stops walking to stare at me. "_What?_"

"What?" Then I realize that I'd said the last part aloud. _Eek! _"N-nothing!" I flail my arms about. "Honestly, nothing! No big deal!"

Riku walks away to view the menu. I follow him, and can just make him out muttering to himself about how it is physically possible to ship people. In my mind, I snort.

He stares at me again.

I _did not _snort aloud, did I?

I did.

Riku's shaking with laughter, so I did.

_Great._

I walk up beside him, swinging my green school bag, staring at the menu. He's frowning, and I can see why. I stop grinning as soon as I see it. Everything's so... so _cheesy! _All about lovely dovely stuff and _every single item involves love _and we only came here for a small snack don't _do this to me._

"I feel sick just looking at this menu," I mutter. "What happened to the scones? Salads? _Water?_"

Riku looks as if he's trying not to smirk at the menu. "Moonlight Dust_?_" Or plain old water. "Heartfelt Smoothie? Shin_-"_ He suddenly stops. "Did you write this menu, Shiki?" he says, voice flat, like he's given up completely.

"No?" Why would he suggest that? Then I see what he was about to read, and I grin. "_Ohhh, _a Shining Knight? Count me _in_!"

"Everywhere we go," I can hear him moan as we go to the empty counter. "_Everywhere."_

"Didn't Sora get you a Queen's Knight pin for your birthday?"

"_Shut up._"

Oops, manners have gone out of the window and into the front of a truck. Riku must be cross. "Aww, I'll order you two Shining Knights, don't you worry."

"_Shiki." _He sounds slightly strained. "_Please._"

"Of _course!_"

Suddenly, an angry violin blares out of Riku's trouser pocket, all high notes that suddenly shift to low and _wow _I keep forgetting that it's _amazing_. His face is brighter than a red turnip when he picks it up, flipping it open like the awkward child he is to answer it. He waves a hand at me, most likely to tell me to order some food while he talks, so I do. Basic manners, right?

It takes a while, but I manage to convince the disappointed-looking waitress, that _no_, me and Riku are just friends, not with a boy or girl in front of it, or, as the French say, _petite_. Or petit. French adjectives are really confusing.

I order two drinks of Shining Knight (which turns out to just be fruit juice) along with Hot Stuff, which is a small wrap covered in chilli sauce and red peppers, and a bowl of Green Envy (salad) for myself. I hope Riku likes spicy foods. I think he mentioned liking it once..? Ah, well, he does now.

When I check the price with the waitress and try to find a table, Riku's already sitting at one in the corner, staring out of the window, phone clenched in his hand. He looks almost... _angry? _Uh-oh. I've only ever seen him cross about two times, and I don't care for a repeat.

"You never did tell me where you got that ringtone from," I say, trying to lighten the mood as I slide into the seat opposite him. He looks up at me, surprised, before sighing. "Where did you download it?"

"I, um... I didn't download it."

Wow, _really? _"Huh? But that's so good! Oh oh _oh! _Is that... _you?_"

He grins a little, looking wistful. "Heh, I wish. That's my younger brother. He's really good, but..."

When he doesn't finish, I continue for him. "Really good? Riku, that's an _understatement!_" I lean forward in my chair. He leans back, looking slightly uncomfortable, so I sit back down again. "He's _younger _than you, so he's gotta be less than sixteen, but he's _that _good?"

"_Shiki_," he says with a small laugh. "Tell him that and he'll slap you."

I wrap my fingers together, humming. "You know, you've gotta introduce me to your family soon. You already know Kairi, but I don't know any of your family! That's not fair!"

"Heh, neither of them are... 'people' people." He laughs a little with his air quotes, looking thoughtful. Like he's looking back on memories. Hopefully they're good memories. I mean, how could you _not _love your relatives? That's like... not liking the Sun. They're your own blood, aren't they? In a way, they're you. So, if you hate them, you're hating yourself in a way. Creepy, now that I think about.

"Well, I'll meet them _one day. _That's a promise!"

Riku laughs again. "Looking forward to that day."

Struggling to think of anything to say, I eventually decide to settle my curiosity. "So... who was that on the phone?"

His eyes dart to the window, before staring down to the table. Oops. Maybe I shouldn't have bought that up. "Um... just my brother? He wanted to know if I was coming home or not."

If there is _one thing _that Riku is awful at doing, it's lying. He _never _looks at people whenever he lies, so it's pretty obvious that he is. "Look," I say, leaning forward, sounding serious. "I don't want to be a nuisance or anything, but you're lying. Mind telling me who it _really _was?"

"I wasn't lying!"

"_Riku!_"

"It's nothing that you need to know!"

"Tell me!"

"No!"

"Rik-" Then I stop myself. Why I am being so_ rude? _If Riku doesn't want to say anything, then he doesn't have to! Why am I being so damn persistent? Ugh! "S-sorry. Um... I shouldn't have been..." I settle for hugging myself tightly, since Mr. Mew is still in my bag. Why do I always mess up with people? Ahhh! "Sorry."

He shakes his head. "Nah, it's okay. I get like that with Sora all of the time. Kairi knows just to tell me what's wrong straight away."

My sisterly instinct kicks in. "_Is _something wrong with Kairi?"

Laughing, he waves his hands about when I frown at him. "Nothing, nothing! I promise!"

Good. I relax back in my chair and stretch. How long are the foods gonna take? It's only _salad _and a wrap. "Okay."

At that moment, my wishes come true.

"Hiya!"

Is that an _Australian _accent?

My _word_.

A silver tray's set down in front of us. Riku pales at the two Shining Knights as I lift them out, setting one on his side, and the other to myself. The water seems to sparkle in the setting sun. The girl serving us – some perky person with bright red hair tied up in pigtails – grins at us widely, clapping her hands together.

"Oh, I _do _hope that you enjoy it!" Yep, she's got a really really _really _thick accent. "Happy Singles Awareness Day!"

Riku nearly chokes on his drink. "Hnmamk?"

I shrug upon the woman's confused look. Her grin is infectious, I swear. "I dunno?"

Riku waves his hand about a few times while holding his throat with the other. He looks a bit like someone who's about to have a seizure. "I-I mean-" He coughs again. "-Isn't it Valentine's Day?"

"Well, _obviously_, but Fang and Light told me that you two weren't a..." She hums before grinning again, linking her fingers together. "_Couple?"_

"Friends!" Me and Riku blurt out at the same time. We then proceed to send daggers at each other before laughing. He's _awful _at glaring, especially since I know how he does it; and had promptly chopped off the fringe that had allowed him to deploy it so well.

"_Vanille!" _a cross-sounding woman's voice shouts from behind the counter. "We've got customers. Stop messing around."

"Aww, but I'm only having fun!"

"Get _inside._"

"You see?" She sighed heavily. "Light's _such _a spoil-sport."

"It's _Lightning!"_

I snort. _Lightning? _Talk about cheesy. Riku apparently has similar thoughts, since he's struggling not to smirk a little.

"You mean _Claire!_" Vanille calls back cheerfully, before giving us a beaming wave. "Anywho; have a great time, you two! _Ciao_!"

Then – and I kid not- she _runs _into the back-store, nearly toppling over half of the waiting customers.

I explode into laughter as soon as the door slams shut, digging my fork into the Green Envy. The lettuce is surprisingly soft, and actually looks pretty good. Riku stares at his Hot Stuff. As in, the _food. _Not whatever else he has that is hot, and stuffy.

Jeez, they give these things some weird names.

"...What is this?" Riku quietly asks.

"Food."

He nearly rolls his eyes, but stops at the last second. "Like I couldn't tell."

"It's Hot Stuff," I reply simply.

All of the peppers in his mouth explode onto his plate in a wave of red. I immediately throw a handkerchief towards him. "Eww! Clean clean clean _clean!_"

"_Hot stuff_?" Riku squeaks out. I've honestly never heard his voice go so high before. "_HOT STUFF!?"_

"It has _capitals _and – are you _choking!_?"

He furiously waves away my hand before I can perform the choking aid on him. "N-no, I'm fine, just fine!"

"You don't _look _fine." He's all red and looks flustered and _oh my _is he going to say something please don't I-

"-Hey, Shiki?" he asks softly.

I snap myself out of my thoughts, smiling. The Green Envy remains uneaten on my hanging fork. "Yeah?"

"...Thanks."

I tilt my head. Thanks for what? The food? Dragging him down here? Or something else? "What for?"

"Being my friend." He smiles at me, almost shyly, and it's enough to make my heart melt since he's _soooooo _cute! "I-I mean, I know it sounds stupid and all, since most people don't say that kind of stuff, but..." He sighs. "But yeah. Thanks, Shiki."

His hand's resting around his drink, so I gently take it in my own, smiling back at him. He's such a fantastic friend. He lets me drag him around no problem, like he doesn't mind at all. It's sweet. It really is. I don't think I realized just how sweet he is until now. "No problem. Happy Valentine's Day."

"Aww, you two really _should _be a couple!"

"_Vanille!_"

* * *

**A/N: **This was written with _platonic _in mind, since although I do ship Riku/Shiki, I... only really do it in canon-verse? In this universe, I honestly cannot see the two of them together. Okay, _maybe _a little, but details. Not in this particular story.

Also, this is my entry for the group _KH__platonic__L__ove_ over on deviantArt, which had a challenge running for Valentine's Day (still time to enter!), but the story had to be _platonic_.I had great issues debating where I should have published this, since it could have counted as an entry in my challenge attempt for platonic love (_Petals of an Anemone, _if you must know), or post it as a separate story altogether. In the end, I settled for adding it onto _Cute Name. _I think I'll just make this a series of Riku/Shiki stuff set in the same universe. Storylines do _not _work for me, end of.

_Vanille, Fang _and _Lightning _are all from _Final Fantasy XIII. _Yes, I know that Lightning features a lot in KH fics, but you never see Vanille or Fang featuring, so it's okay. Maybe.

LOOK I LOVE VANILLE OKAY.

I _was _going to do Snow instead of Lightning (because I _love _Snow; he's currently my favourite FFXIII character along with Sazh and Vanille, and I don't really like Lightning), but I can't really imagine him working in a café, can you? Poor guy would scare everyone away with how tall he is. Lightning's probably working there for Serah, to get out and communicate with people. This _is _Serah we're talking about oh I don't know.

Also I will _not tolerate _bashers of Vanille or Snow in any reviews (or FFXIII in general, since that game gets an _incredible_ lot of hate), so if you want to review just to tell me that, I honestly will ignore it. To me, both of them are wonderful characters, and do not get nearly as much love as they deserve. Same with Hope and Sazh. Sazh is just plain ignored. D:

I would wish you all Happy Valentine's Day, but this is over a week early. ^^; Have a great day when it rolls around! XD

Man, is this note long enough?


	3. Ceiling Fan

**Disclaimer: **No.

**Titles: **The Mystery of the Ceiling-prone Trainer

**Summary: **Potential sunburn is the least of Riku's worries. He's got to convince Shiki that he needs back his ceiling-stalking trainer which has also become her art project. Naturally, as is often the case with Shiki, it's easier said than done.

**Characters: **Riku, Shiki, mentions of others.

**A/N: **A prompt that was meant for _Final Fantasy XIII_, but quickly took on its own RiShiki twist. Hehe. Also particularly inspired by the _awful _sunburn I got from playing basketball all day. It's completely covered my arms and face. XD

* * *

**Prompt: **_"It's still hanging from my ceiling fan. Please let me keep it there."_

* * *

"Hey, Shiki?" We were sprawled out on a school bench, basking in the relentless sunlight shining overhead. I considered taking off my vest-top, as I could practically _feel _the sweat tickling my back mockingly, but then a swamp of girls (and boys) would ambush me. Sighing, I glanced down to my friend. Shiki had her legs kicked over the steel railings, her messy hair brushing against my thigh as she played with Mr. Mew's paws. Both of our classes had been cancelled (mine biology, hers music) because of the extreme weather, and, I quote Mr. Black; "the pupils were doing jack-all anyway". So the teachers kicked us outside. In hindsight, _not _the best decision, since I would definitely have a serious case of facial sunburn in a few hours, but I couldn't bring myself to move. Besides, the spot that Shiki had dragged me to was surprisingly empty, save for a small huddle of kids in the shade of the netball courts. They sent us occasional glances, but nothing more. "Shiki?" I asked again.

She looked up at me, then squinted. From the blaring sun, no doubt. "Yeah?"

"I was at your house yesterday, when your mum was out."

"Yep." She grinned, teeth gleaming. I smiled back. "You left your WildKat trainer on my ceiling fan.

"Yeah, about that... I'd, uh, I need it back."

Shiki bolted up, turning around on her knees to face me. She yanked my blue hoodie from around my knees – it was meant to be raining! - and slapped it underneath her. "You do?"

"It's my best trainer."

"Wait, so the left foot is magically better than the right foot?"

How did she know what foot it went on? _I _didn't know that! "Yes – no, but... but does it really matter?"

She peered closer to my feet. "Well, your right foot's _slightly _larger than your left, by, like, a fraction."

"Some fractions can be massive," I shot back, defensive. "Nine tenths is definitely larger than one tenth."

Plopping her arms down to her sides, Shiki gave me an irritated sigh through her grin. "Jeez, show-off, calm your Pythagoras' theorems down."

I didn't have the heart to tell her that it was Pythagoras' _theorem_, no plural involved. "I _am _in the top set of maths."

"_Please_." She crossed her arms. "I hammer you at music, little pathetic pentatonic. Such a small scale."

"That's a serious case of alliteration you have there, Shiki."

"BUT getting back to the topic at _hand_-" I allowed myself to smirk, knowing that I'd won this particular argument. _That _didn't happen too much; she was just so stubborn that I gave up after a while. "No, you're not getting back the trainer. Only if you come over again."

"So... I _can _get it back?"

She squirmed on her knees, then knocked them tightly against her waist, lowering herself down so that she was directly touching the bench. She was cute when she looked uncomfortable- w-wait, _what?_ "Of course you can't!" Shiki's nervous answer snapped my thoughts away. I glanced up, then away to the group of awkward kids as I noticed her staring at me. "I-I mean, it's _mine_ now, and I'm... uh, I'm drawing it for my art project."

I raised my eyebrows. Weird thing to draw, my shoe. What, was it colourful or something (which it wasn't really)? "That's for the 'draw an unusual household object', ain't it? Not exactly _yours_."

"You left it behind!" Shiki insisted. "If you hadn't been kicking your legs about and showing off, then you wouldn't have lost it."

But how had I been showing off? She'd _asked _me to... ugh, Kairi was _never _this confusing. Or Naminé. Hell, Aqua just spoke the complete truth. "How about you finish up the project tonight, and I'll hang round 'til I can collect it. That sound alright? Your mum's out at that business meeting. It'll be fine. Aqua's gotta finish her history essay with Axel, so she'll be out, and Kairi doesn't mind."

"Y-yeah, sure, cool." The bell blared overhead. Shiki leapt off the bench with surprising grace and swept up her satchel in one movement. I grabbed my backpack and swung it over my shoulder. Physics now. _Yay_. "Meet up at the usual spot?" she asked, playing with the torn labels of her skirt shyly. She looked so- ugh, _stop _it!

"Of course." I saw Sora scrambling towards me. He jumped over the brick wall nearby easily, Kairi following behind at just an eager pace as he was. "Uh-oh. Here comes the interrogation duo."

Shiki laughed loudly. "Then I'll make a break for it!" Suddenly, she flinged me a slippery white bottle. I struggled to catch it. "It's after sun! I think you'll be needing it!" She was sniggering as she jogged away.

I glanced down to my arms, spotting the bright red marks seared across them. "Oh."

Sunburnt, huh? Almost as bad as kicking a trainer onto a ceiling fan.

"_Riiikkkkuuuuuu_!" Sora called as he bounced over, then I saw him wince. "Ouch! You okay?"

Kairi came up after him, her face softly frowning in concern. I smiled. "That looks sore."

I shook my head. "Nah, I've got aftersun. C'mon; we've got games now, right?"

"Yep!" Sora nodded. "You sure you can do it? You're gonna get even _more _sunburnt..."

"I'll just use Kairi as shade. She's red enough for it."

"Hey!"


End file.
